2 posts tagged “fiction”

“I understood the shadows.  I know why they whisper to me now.  They whisper because that is who they are, and that is who I am.  I will be the bearer, I will receive.  I will let the shadows talk to me.  Someday I will have something to say to the shadows, and on that day there will be no more darkness.”

The letters faded away silently, even as they had risen from the page like the reflections of passing headlights.  Then it was only a book again.  A blank diary, sitting on a wooden vase-table covered in a quarter inch of dust that seemed to have been collecting since the beginning of time.  There was madness here, but a strange kind of order as well; nothing that happened here would ever seem out of place.  Across the walls were the faint traces of something scratched into the walls by a dieing person.  Time had filled them too with dust, but they seemed to almost glow on their own accord, faintly reaching through the layers of powder obscuring them.  They were a fitting anteloquy to their author’s subsequent death.  The body was nowhere to be found, but that someone had died was obvious.  There was still the lingering aura of violence that settled upon any place where such an act occurred.  Books bearing titles not in any recognizable language were spread across the room out of a shattered bookcase.  Shadows writhed in the corners of the room, straining at whatever silent force restrained them.  Each passing moment was one closer to chaos. 

Outside the room stood a statue, once bearing the image of a beautiful young woman, now twisted into the shape of an unspeakable vilitude.  Across the pedestal remained the last six lines of some lost verse, perhaps an incantation or perhaps simply the thoughts of an artists wandering mind.  The paper hung languidly from the walls, not able to finish the process that time had already set into motion.  Indications of passage appeared here; some feet had disturbed the dust far more recently than any inside the room itself.  If recently meant either fifteen, or a hundred years, was unascertainable by casual observation.
 
At the end of the little hall stood nothing.  A towering wall of nothing that stood ready to consume any thing that dared approach.  Nothing was the perfect extension of everything else within the room and hall, a head and neck devoid of body.  The room a head, filled with knowledge written in unreadable books covered in a thick layer of dust.  The room holds its breath, waiting for the proper moment to exhale all its knowledge upon the world like a burst of hot dry air.  I will be the feather that tickles the nose that causes the sneeze that lets loose the knowledge that will bring the world to life.  And it will thank me.    

I wrote this about a year ago.  I'll leave the meaning up to you.

Once, long ago, there was a little town called Peesea. Now, Peesea was generally a happy little town. Sure, there were squabbles and fights and grumps and grumbles, but this is to be expected after all. Generally speaking, Peesea was a nice place to be.

In Peesea there lived a young badger, named Smaller Badger. Each day, Smaller Badger would get up and go to Aardvark's house. He would have breakfast with Aardvark, and then they would go find Field Mouse and have a walk around town. They would say hello to Hare, Rabbit, Deer, Coyote, Squirrel, and all their other friends. Each morning, an hour before noon, Chickadee flew by and called out what was going on in the village.

“Mole just beat Turtle at horseshoes," she might say, or, “Brown Cat and Moose just had a fight over the last piece of Groundhog's carrot-nut pie!" Chickadee was very good at what she did, but sometimes, she got a little out of hand. One day, Tortoise came to the town council and said that Chickadee had made fun of his knobby shell to the whole town. The council turned to Chickadee and said, “Did you say this?"

“Well, yes," said Chickadee.

“But it isn't," said Owl, who was head of the council. “His shell may be rough, but making fun of him for this, and calling it knobby, is inappropriate." Chickadee realized that she had been wrong, and apologized to Tortoise. Chickadee then flew around town and told everyone that she was wrong.

Things were happy again, and Smaller Badger continued to play with his friends each day, and listen to Chickadee each day. Smaller Badger and some of his friend were now old enough to join council meetings and learn to take part in town matters. Before, he had always been forced to stay at home while the adults went to town council. It was about this time when another grievance came out against chickadee.

“Chickadee said that I smell bad," said Skunk irritably.

“He does smell bad," Chickadee replied, trying to defend herself.

“I know that I smell bad," wailed Skunk. “Do you have to always point it out to me?"

Owl shook his head and sighed towards Chickadee. “You must not say these thing, Chickadee. Skunk is very sensitive about his odor. You should be more careful with his feelings, and more aware of how what you say can hurt him. Apologize at once!"

Chickadee apologized, somewhat stuffily, and then flew off to sulk. “Well," though Smaller Badger, “I do not know what I think of this." He went to his friends, and asked them about it. “Skunk does smell," he said. “Why should he get offended if Chickadee says so?"

But his friends shook their heads. “It is not nice to point these things out to people," said Aardvark.

“Smaller Badger," said Coyote, “there is no reason to insult people, no matter what."

Smaller Badger felt that something was wrong, but he didn't know how to express himself to his friends, so he went home.

The season was turning, and it was soon time for Mr. Horse's vegetable garden to be ripe for harvest. Each year, the whole town would help Mr. Horse to harvest his crop, and then there would be a big feast to celebrate. Everyone looked forward to it, and it was most peoples favorite time of year. Unfortunately, there was another disturbance with Chickadee. Gopher said that Chickadee had unfairly accused him of planning to eat all the vegetables himself, on the night before the harvest.

Chickadee tried to tell everyone that she saw him poking around the vegetable patch, but Owl said to her, “We know that you mean well, but you tend to be flighty, and exaggerate or make assumptions about things you do not understand. Clearly you have hurt Gopher's feelings, and you must apologize. And in the future, I would ask you to watch your mouth."

So, Chickadee apologized again, and flew away. “Something isn't right about this," thought Smaller Badger to himself. Afterwards, he tried to talk with Owl. “Maybe we should listen to Chickadee," Smaller Badger suggested.

“Now now, young one," said Owl, not unkindly. “I know that in your heart you mean well, but we cannot just allow chickadee to say anything she pleases. No one knows exactly what will come out of her mouth, and it may be very hurtful to someone." Smaller Badger was not convinced, and so that night he went to the vegetable patch to wait and watch. Sure enough, he saw Gopher appear several times out of nearby holes.

The next morning all the people arrived at Mr. Horses garden, only to find that all the vegetables had been eaten. “It must have been those worms," said Gopher sadly.

Smaller Badger ran to Chickadee and said, “Chickadee, Chickadee, I saw Gopher eating the vegetables! Quick, tell every one what happened!"

But, Chickadee refused. “Tell them yourself," she said. “I can't say anything or Owl will tie my beak shut." So Smaller Badger tried to tell his friends, but no on would listen to him. That night, Smaller Badger went home, very depressed. There would be no harvest, no feast, and no food for the winter. Finally, Smaller Badger was tired of being depressed.

“I'm going to do something fun," he said to himself. “I'm going to go on a journey!"

And so, Smaller Badger left the town, bid his friends farewell, an headed off into the distance yonder. He spent almost a year away from the village, and when he returned he was a much more happy, cheerful, and experienced little badger. But, when he got home, he saw that something was very wrong. The village was empty, and the bones of everyone he had known littered the street.

“What is this!?" cried Smaller Badger. “What has happened to Peesea?"

Suddenly he heard a noise behind him, and he whirled to see Aardvark crawling out from underneath a house. Alongside Aardvark was Chickadee, with her beak tied shut. Smaller Badger rushed to his friends. “Aardvark, what has happened? Please, tell me! Why is Chickadee silenced? What happened to the town?" Aardvark did not answer him, but looked ashamed. Smaller Badger quickly cut the string holding Chickadee's mouth shut. “Good Chickadee, please, tell me!"

“Then," said Chickadee, “I will tell you everything. After you left, I saw Raccoon get into the chicken pen. I tried to tell the village, but Raccoon said that I was only saying it to be hurtful to raccoons, who have long been viewed as predators and thieves. So, Owl ordered my beak to be tied shut.
“When I saw Count Black Bear eat Rabbit, I could say nothing. When I saw Wolf eat squirrel and stew Hare, my beak was closed. When Brown Cat ate Mouse, and then Fisher ate Brown Cat, I couldn't warn anyone about it. And when I saw Grizzly eat Moose, I hid. Aardvark saw me, and hid next to me, under my house. Now, we are all that remain."

Then Smaller Badger said to Aardvark, “Oh, you silly creatures! While you were so worried about peoples feelings, you silenced the one voice that could have warned you of danger. Now, you have faced the punishment for your foolishness." And with that, Smaller Badger took Chickadee and set off, away from the dead village. He and Chickadee would seek out others, and warn them of the fate of doomed Peecea.